Desperate Literature made me feel desperate as well: desperate for more money to be able to buy all the titles that struck my attention; desperate for more time to read and get lost in the words of others; and desperate, probably the most desperate of all, to read in not just Spanish and English, but French and Portuguese, to read some of my favorite authors in their mother tongue. Desperation is a funny thing: it inspires, and acts as a driving force, once you make it through that period of fear and uncertainty.